Classrooms Conducive to Learning

       The task of this post is to discover how I plan to create a classroom environment that is conducive to learning. The first thing that must be mentioned comes from this blog post which talks about the necessity of an environment conducive to learning. The article says that as teachers, the focus of the classroom should be to educate the students. When accepting this as your primary goal it becomes clear that having a classroom that makes this easier should be a component of any teachers lesson planning. If a teacher cannot provide this classroom I believe that learning becomes harder if not nearly impossible therefore this should be the first focus of a teacher, in my opinion.

      The question remains, how do you make a classroom to this specification? I believe the answer begins with an atmosphere that promotes both an appropriate relationship structure between the student and teacher and an atmosphere that promotes collaboration between the two. The first is necessary to have a structure that shows that the teacher is in charge and responsible for the instructing. It also requires that the student know that he/she is the student is in charge of learning and all that that entails. The second of the two ways to promote a descent atmosphere is to have an atmosphere of collaboration. This ensures that the student knows that the teacher is there to help them and that the teacher understands that the student and their learning is what comes first. The article also mentions something else that I think is important in this process. Teachers need to understand that teaching requires some collaboration with other teachers and should not be afraid to take advice and learn new things. I believe these things help to promote a atmosphere that leads to the best learning environment.

Motivation in the Classroom

     When talking about various factors involving the education of children in the classroom, I have found that I believe one of the most important factors is motivation. I believe this because I think that children are capable of any assignment that fits into the curriculum. Where I think many students run into a problem is when they do not see the value in learning about a particular subject. Many people, me being one, are able to do their work simply for the fact that there is a grade given. I personally would try my hardest for any class just because I could pass it. Beyond that I believed that passing classes was vital to going to college which I thought was the way to success and happiness. I still feel this way and I still use this for my personal motivation, but I know that that is not the case for everyone. The question becomes, how do we motivate students to try harder and want to succeed in the classroom.

     I tried to find some answers to this, and I think I got close with this article. In this article the author talks about using the things that motivate students so much to relate the material and get the students to care about the lesson. I believe that relating information in this way may be the best way to influence intrinsic motivation. I believe that students would really benefit from an attempt to associate information with something they care about. This could be something about a pet they have or a car they own. It can even be something on TV. I once went to a teacher's conference and the speaker mentioned that he had a student who believed that he was incapable of taking notes and keeping up with information and keeping  it in a organized manner. Because the student did not believe he could do this, the teacher accepted it and did not push the student. That is until the teacher found out that the student watched professional wrestling and kept a detailed notebook of every wrestler and their profiles, skill sets, and moves. He also kept a detailed record of the story lines  This student did this not because he had to but because he wanted to and cared about the information. This tells me that if a student cares about something they can be dedicated, they can work hard, and they can succeed at something.

     It is because of this that I believe motivation is so important to the success of students, and that I believe that relating information to something the students care about can really change how a student performs. 

Intial Post

After two sessions in Educational Psychology 401 I feel that I have a deeper understanding of what the purpose of this class is. I think my personal goals for the course are somewhat corny but probably not uncommon. I really hope that through this class and other instruction I am able to learn more about how to be a better teacher. I don't necessarily just mean the information I know or the lesson plans I use, but also the techniques that work for connecting to my students. I also hope that I am able to be better at my job than I would be without the information in this course.

It is because of this that I wonder what specific psychological things help students to connect with me and retain knowledge that I attempt to teach them In addition to that I hope to find out what type of information I should be concerned getting my students to learn. I need to learn what is best to teach students that they can retain for long periods of time. It is one thing to teach my students information to pass a test, but to actually retain some information is a key goal. Other than these concerns I think I am just looking forward to learning so I move forward in this process.